Hermes will launch Osmanthe Yunnan in November. It was…
…inspired by a stroll through Beijing’s Forbidden City. The eau de toilette includes notes of tea, freesia, orange, osmanthus and apricot…
New & upcoming perfumes: Givenchy, Hermes & L'Artisan
As previously reported, Givenchy is gearing up to launch a Harvest Collection, starting with a new version of Amarige this December. It will feature “the ‘green sensation’ of the 2005 mimosa harvest in its top notes along with tender orange blossom notes”, with the mimosa from Grasse making up 25% of the juice…
Hermessence Collection: Vetiver Tonka
Continuing with Hermessence week, today I am wearing Vetiver Tonka, my vote for the best perfume in the collection. Like the others, it was created by Hermès house nose Jean Claude Ellena and launched in 2004. Hermès Vetiver Tonka is meant to suggest wool, and has notes of vetiver, neroli, bergamot, grilled hazelnut, dry fruit, cereals and tonka bean.
Vetiver Tonka starts off fresh and green, with vetiver and mild citrus. It is deep and rich — the top notes of Guerlain Vetiver smell like water in comparison — but it is not at all heavy, nor is it more than mildy sweet…
Hermes Ambre Narguile (Hermessence Collection) ~ fragrance review
Like the others in the Hermessence line of fragrances (see Rose Ikebana and Poivre Samarcande), Ambre Narguile was created by Hermès house nose Jean-Claude Ellena and released in 2004. Ambre Narguile is meant to evoke cashmere, and features notes of benzoin, labdanum, musk, vanilla, caramel, honey, sugared tonka bean, grilled sesame seeds, cinnamon, rum, coumarine and white orchids.
All of the Hermessence perfumes are foody to one degree or another; Ambre Narguile is the dessert course of the quartet…
Hermes Poivre Samarcande (Hermessence Collection) ~ fragrance review
As long as we are talking about the Hermessence line from Hermès (see yesterday’s review of Rose Ikebana), I thought I would pull out my sample of Poivre Samarcande and give it a real try on skin. A quick smell on a test strip last fall had convinced me that it was too masculine a fragrance for me to pull off, but test strips are such a waste of time that I don’t know why I bother. Poivre Samarcande is meant to mimic velvet, and has notes of pepper, chili pepper, oak, cedar, chinese moss, and musk…